The 20th annual West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade has just finished crossing California SW at Atlantic, on the way to the afterparty – family-style games at Hamilton Viewpoint Park (concessions too!) – even if your family missed the parade, c’mon down! Above, a quick Instagram clip from the first leg of the parade route; we’ll have lots more video and photos here later. And here’s what else is up today/tonight.

… and national anthem singer Leilani Nitkey, who did a great job despite a faltering loudspeaker system (we were close enough with the video camera, we could hear her without amplification):

As Mayor Nickels said, “The real meaning of today is Independence Day, where we celebrate the fact that some very brave people … our forefathers, if you will … were willing to take a stand and declare that this nation would be independent, with certain inalienable rights, (such as) the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that was revolutionary.”

ADDED: A few parade photos (and don’t miss the pre-parade “bonus” pics at the end of the story). Here’s the contingent riding in the blue pickup that followed Engine 29:

Non-motorized transportation, otherwise, was the order of the day – including scooters:

Next – from the post-parade games on the green at Hamilton Viewpoint:

Kids toured the fire and police vehicles that had bookended the parade:

The Admiral Neighborhood Association handled concessions as usual – this year, ANA president David Whiting(1st photo below) went mobile into the crowd, in addition to ANA’s fixed-location van (second photo below, with Kayle Shulenberger in the foreground):

Thanks to Tracy for recording and posting this. I saw her at work during the parade, typing on her phone with one hand and taking video of the parade with other. Our community is a community because of events like this, and her efforts that draw us all closer.

Thanks for the kind words, Creighton. I did overhear more than a few people marveling that it is indeed one of those events that can evoke the “small-town Americana” type of feeling even though in reality we’re in the heart of a big city. And I hope people will remember the holiday for this as much (or more) as for the fractiousness over the all-night kabooms.
.
Meantime, I forget sometimes to put up photo credits but co-publisher Patrick (Sand, my husband) was hard at work too, taking a few hundred still photos from which we pulled the ones you see here … this year I almost brought the tripod so the video could roll hands-off so I could do Instagram, Twitter, etc. with my right hand instead of left and not look so goofy but .. well, next year. – TR